Worship Series, Part 3

After a couple stressful weeks of planning this series, it was nice to have some of my favorite people join me this week. My friends Jason, Jeff and Trace came to worship with our students. They did a great job and I loved worshipping with them, just like always.

Jason did a great job wrapping up the series. He took a brief look at Psalm 104, Romans 1 and Isaiah 6. He talked about how all of creation here on earth and in heaven is worshipping God. The reality is this worship is happening all of the time. We have the opportunity to join in an be apart of that worship.

I had some of my students in class mention how good “those boys” were. One student asked if Trace was from California. I found that amusing. I’m not really sure how they felt about the morning but I loved it. I get so excited when I have the opportunity to praise God with others I know that are passionate about praising him. It was a good boost to make it through the next week.

Worship Series, Part 2

In chapel this morning I spoke on the vertical and horizontal components of corporate worship. At the end I asked the students to write/draw a prayer to God about the attitude of their hearts when they come together to worship. Some of our students responded in amazing ways.

“During this chapel I have been humbled because I’ve realized that I have just been thinking and not acting. I also have been focusing more on myself and what I want in worship rather than what God wants.”

“Dear Lord, My life has been messed for a long time now. Help me to always focus on you and others rather than myself. Help me to regain that relationship. Your sinful child,”

“God, I ask that through worship, I might be able to lift my friends and family up, and that they would be able to lift me up as well. I also pray that YOU will lift us all up, and reveal your plans to us and your love to us.”

“Dear Lord, I haven’t cared about worship for a long time. That needs to change.”

“Lord, Thank you for the time this morning. I know a lot of times worship is focused on me and what I want out of it...”

“My attitude towards worship-I’ve always loved chapel but I struggle with going to church because that’s not what I want. But there shouldn’t be an I there.”

“I need to slow down, even more than I’ve already attempted to, and start ENCOURAGING those around me. They NEED to have this awe, this love for God, and I don’t’ want to stand in the way of them getting that by being self-centered. I want to HELP them come to know His greatness. Lord-help me remember-it’s YOUR will. Not mine. Amen.”

Tea and Silence

I came to Bella Vita to iron out some things for the worship series while enjoying a great cup of tea.

Instead, I sat in silence with God, watching the beautiful rain and enjoying a cup of tea.

Perfect!

Attitude towards worship

I think one of our school’s big struggles right now is our attitude towards spiritual development. There seems to be some very unique views of what spiritual development should look like and it is evident on every level. Probably the greatest result of this issue has been our attitudes and approach to chapel. As I’ve planned this series I wanted to be intentional about making the week on corporate worship a time where we could step back and be honest about our attitudes it. Since this week is more of a family time I didn’t want to bring in a new face to speak, which means I’m the one speaking. Umm…

I’ve struggled to find the right way to approach the whole thing. Worship is such a dynamic act and there is so much I would love to share. After a lot of praying, writing, praying, rewriting, and more praying I think I’ve got something to run with.

When I gather to worship, what is the attitude of my heart? How does my attitude affect my worship and those around me? What should the attitude or my heart be when I enter a time of corporate worship?

These are some tough questions. I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave a comment or send me an e-mail. If you wouldn’t mind keeping this week in prayer that would be great. Thanks friends!

Worship Series, Part 1

At school today we kicked off a three-week worship series in chapel. I had a handful of students come up and tell me the really enjoyed chapel. One of my students even told me it was the best chapel we have had all year. We had some faculty members form a worship team and had a great time playing together. It was so nice to hear the students singing, clapping and WORSHIPPING!

Jeremiah did a great job setting the pace for the series and made me a bit more nervous about speaking next week. This week we talked about personal worship. Here are some highlights.

--We should want our worship to be our best.
--What is in our worship?
--Worship is about imitating Christ – Ephesians 5:1-2
--Worship is about maintaining purity – Ephesians 5:3-14
--Worship is about living as wise people so others can see Jesus – Ephesians 5:15-20
--Eric Christian’s definition of worship – Worship is acknowledging ALL that God is with ALL that we are.
--By singing songs together and to one another we are worshipping and sharing our faith in Christ.

After Jeremiah spoke we had the students spread out and spend sometime in worship reflecting on what their next step in their worship needed to be. Then we came back together and sang some more.

At first I was upset we couldn’t do this earlier in the year but I discovered today that really this was God’s timing. I pray that the rest of the series will continue to stretch our view of what worship is and help us recognize what steps we need to take to grow in our worship. Thanks for all of you who have been praying about this. Keep praying!